Modi Govt. Mulling Law To End Triple Talaq

Instant divorce is still in practice despite the Supreme Court striking it down.

A sand art is seen at the Bay of Bengal, Sea's eastern coast beach as it created by Indian sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik for public awareness about the Supreme Court Judgement about the muslim community. On 23 August 2107 in Puri.

The government is considering bringing a legislation in the winter session of Parliament to put an end to instantaneous triple talaq, a Muslim way of divorce which is still in practice despite the Supreme Court striking it down.

A ministerial committee has been set up to propose a suitable legislation or amend existing penal provisions, which would make instantaneous triple talaq an offence, government functionaries said today.

As the law stands today, a victim of talaq-e-biddat or instant triple talaq would have no option but to approach the police for redressal of her grievance as a Muslim clergy would be of no assistance to her.

Even police are helpless as no action can be taken against the husband in the absence of punitive provisions in the law, they explained.

The ministerial committee has been constituted to frame a new law or an amendment bill, and the government plans to bring this legislation in the winter session of Parliament, the functionaries said.

In August, the Supreme Court struck down the controversial Islamic practice of instant divorce or talaq- e-biddat as arbitrary and unconstitutional.

But there have been reports of a number of divorces by way of talaq-e-biddat even after the judgement, the functionaries said.

This could be because of lack of awareness and the absence of deterrent punishment, they said.

Despite advisories being issued to the members of the community against the archaic practice, there seemed to be no decline in the cases of divorce by talaq-e-biddat, they claimed.

Soon after the SC judgement, the government said that a law on triple talaq might not be necessary as the order was now the law of the land. They felt that the provisions of the Indian Penal Code were sufficient to deal with cases when aggrieved women approached police.

In a recent case of talaq-e-biddat, a man working with a leading educational institution divorced his wife through WhatsApp and SMS, the functionaries said quoting media reports.